And off we went...

I am going to try and do a post everyday till I am caught up with the trip.
Day one..We left Thursday the 19th after Brian got off work and headed for Las Vegas, it was about a 6 hour drive. We didn't have any problems with that leg of the trip. We arrived at Brian's Aunt Joyce and Uncle Pat's house in Vegas around 10 p.m. Addie was way ready to get out of the car, see Pat and Joyce and play with the little puppies that were at their house.


Day two of the trip we headed to Salt lake to stay with my uncle David and his wife Lynne's house. We headed out of Vegas around 10:30- 11 a.m. We saw our first sight of snow a few hours outside of Vegas.

Everything was going well till about an hour away from SLC when we hit some really bad snow, ice, and evening traffic. It took us about 3 hours to get where we were wanting to be. At this point we were done with being in the car..



When we finally got into SLC we met up with my cousin Jen and her hubby Tyson, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Crown Burger. We were also lucky enough to be able to stop by Brian's cousin Haley's wedding reception. We looked totally getto cause we had no time to change so we we're rockin our road trip clothing.
I took this picture when we left the reception...


Day Three we were had what we thought would be a short 4 hour drive to Twin Falls Idaho. Little did we know what Mother Nature had in store for us. Before heading out of town we had lunch at a great pizza place called The pie with a bunch of the family that was in town for the wedding. We left SLC around 1ish, things didn't get nasty until Ogden when snow and really bad ice hit us and everyone else around us like a ton of bricks. Not even 1 mile after it started there is was a HUGE 30-35 car pile up right in front of us...it was the worst thing I have ever seen. It went across all 6 lines of traffic.

With snow and ice off and on it took us a good amount of time to get to Idaho, but we got there safe and that's what matters.

Its official....we're home!

After over 800 miles (each way) we are finally home!  We had some great times and created some great memories with both sides of our family this Christmas, but after 3 days of driving each way, we're glad to finally be home.  Keep posted over the next week as we begin to document our trip more via the blog, Carrie will be posting pictures for all and I plan to do a post about some of the things I really re-learned this Christmas season that I'm excited to share with everyone.  Thank you to everyone who let us crash at their place along the way, or to those who just let us drop by and say hi along our travels, you really made this trip more bearable, and of course memorable.  Now I'm off to help Carrie begin unpacking.

We are still alive...

I am wondering where this week has gone...I can't believe this trip is almost over. We are supposed  to leave on Sunday but due crazy snow storms we may be leaving on Saturday. We have been having a great time with the whole family and great friends...Here is just a few pics and I will do the big blog post after I get home from the trip.

Me and my 3 siblings...Nate, Matt, and Chris

The fam with out the kids

P.S. sorry the pics are super small I haven't uploaded my pics so I took them off my sisters facebook.

Finally in Idaho...

After 3 days of driving we're finally here...at times we barely survived the drive for a myriad of reasons.  Carrie will post soon with some of our tales of the road as well as some photos from along the way so stay tuned.

30 hours and counting...

I have a million things I should be doing right now but for some reason I have NO desire to do any of them. We are leaving tomorrow at 3p.m. to head to Idaho for Christmas. I am excited to see everyone just not excited for the LONG drive. Addie and Brian had some 24 hour flu bug or something yesterday. So I got nothing done. I am just praying that I don't get it, cause there is no time for me to get the flu.  

My house is trashed from the weekend events, I need to dig out the old computer box that is in the very back of our huge storage closet that is very full, send the computer to my parents, I need to start and finish packing for 3 people for our 8 day trip, make a blanket for a friend, clean my poor house, try and not neglect my child, and manage not to lose my mind while doing all of these things. 

I think I'll drink a nice big glass of Pepsi and get to work...

Addie's Party!

We had a little Tinker Bell theme for Addie's little birthday party. I thought it would be cute to dress Addie up as Tinker bell. She looked pretty cute, but I'm her mom I think that all the time. Before everyone showed up I tried to take a few pics of Addie but she was being a stinker. I managed to get a few good ones though.

The BIG CHEESE!!!

I was chasing her up the stairs and got her laughing pretty good.


That's my little 3 year old stinker...but I love her just the way she is!

Addie's party went really well I thought. I had a lot of help and thank you to everyone who helped, I couldn't have done with with out you. To everyone who came, thank you so much for being a part of Addie's special day. For those of you who couldn't make it near and far we missed you.

Papa Bruce and his Girlfriend Adell Came out Saturday to be here for the party, Addie loved having them around.


Glor a.k.a Mimi flew in just in time for the party, once Mimi showed up Addie wouldn't let her go. They have a special little bond that I am so grateful for.

When we started singing happy birthday she was really excited to finally be able to eat a cupcake.


Once she noticed everyone was looking at her she got super embarrassed.


Mimi ended up helping her blow out the candles...


Finally a yummy cupcake...

A few random things..

First off... I have no idea why it says I did her birthday post on Thursday, cause I did it this morning at 10 something...weird!
Moving right along, Addie has been crazy about cameras for a long time now so we decided to get for one of her own for her birthday. I had looked at a few different ones and read way to many reviews and the one that looked good to me was the Vteach Kidizoom. She opened it this morning and said "oh wow, a camera!" She played around with it a lot this morning. I thought it would be cute to do like a slide show of the pics she takes, to kind of see the world through her eyes. I will warn you now some of these pictures are from no shower, no make-up, just woke up me. Look at your own risk..
Here is just a few and I will soon try and do a weekly slideshow...



Addie has been on a mac and cheese kick lately and we were freshly out unfortunatly. So we thought she could get her fix and we took her to Red Robin for the best mac and cheese in town( or so she thinks) for her birthday dinner. We even let her get a milk shake, and boy did she love that. I took some pictures and I will post them early in the week after her party.

As I sit here thinking about where the last 3 years have gone. My sweet but sometimes crazy little girl is turning 3 today. She has brought so much joy and meaning to my life. I just hope and pray that I can be a great mother and friend as she continues to grow and learn throughout her life.

Happy Birthday Addie Kay! I love you so much!

I am a nut!

As I am sitting her looking at updated blogs, Addie is watching The Doodlebops and I sadly found myself singing along with them...I stopped and started laughing. You know you have a almost 3 year old when you with out thinking sing along to all the crazy kid shows. Oh the joys!

Elf Yourself...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

grrrrrr....

Okay so now I just feel like a fool. Brian and I were sitting and skyping with his mom over the computer, we were talking about our lovely afternoon. Glor was asking Addie about the nail, and Brian says what kind of nail was it? A hard nail that mommy was using for the lights or what? She says "NO a finger nail"....Me thinking WHAT??? This never once crossed my mind yesterday. Addie is a nail biter (it's nasty, I know. I can't get her to stop) Brian at this time says "Wow Carrie that was the $75 questions". Yeah I feel like a totally fool now....I guess you live and learn.

She never surprises me...

The afternoon begins like this...Addie and I were outside as I was hanging Christmas lights along the window. I had 5 little nails about an inch or so long sitting on the chair I was standing on while hanging the lights. I had used 4 of the 5 nails, I turned around to grab the last one and saw Addie was chewing on something weird. I asked her what do you have in your mouth? Spit it out NOW? As I see her swallow she looks at me and says "me swallow nail". I thought you have got to be kidding me child, not now, not today, not this month. I asked her a few different times in different ways about if she really swallowed it. She never changed her story at all. I looked around outside to see if I could find the nail. It was nowhere to be found. My first thought was I need to call someone that would know if I need to take her to the hospital or not. As I went through a few people in my cell, no one answered. I called the hospital and the lady said she wouldn't connect me to the ER  I just needed to bring her in ASAP. At this time Adell called me back and said take her in NOW and don't let her eat or drink anything. In my head I think great she is starving and lunch was almost done. I call Brian tell him he needs to come get us so we can go to the ER. We headed in to the ER and they got us in pretty quick. Brian took Addie back to do the x-ray, they did one from her ears to her belly button. They didn't see anything. They came back in and wanted to do another one from her chest to about her knees. Once again they saw nothing. The P.A. that saw her looked over them and also had a few other docs look at them also. All of them said nope we see nothing. 75 dollars later they sent us home with some papers and copies of the x-rays. I don't understand why or how she would think up something like that? I am a bit confused with it all really. This was our very interesting afternoon.

Addie chillin watching cartoons



The x-rays



FINALLY able to eat after they gave us the green light


The whole deal pooped her out..

Christmas Cards..

I am sending out Christmas cards. I would love to send you one...Please give me your address so I can, unless you know that I for sure have it. Thanks bunches

Thanksgiving Trip!

We took off to San Diego for a LONG weekend (weds-mon).  We did a bunch of fun stuff. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with Brian's dad, his girlfriend Adell, her daughters and family, and Kevin bri's bother. Friday Glor flew back into town, while Bri and Addie went to get her I headed out to catch a few sales. I got a ton of fabric for the blankets I make for $1.48 a yard. On Saturday we went and played at the park, took some family pictures, and took Addie to her first movie in the theater. She did really well, and loved Madagascar 2.

                                                                    

           Our little family
        Addie and Mimi at the coolest park ever

 Sunday Brian went to the Charger football game with his dad. Addie, Gloria, Adell, and her grand daughter Mikayla, and myself went to the beautiful San Diego Zoo. The weather was amazing and all the animals were out and about, we had a great time and saw some really cool things. 

                Mimi and Addie in front of the elephants

          Mikayla and Addie being scary spiders

                The "baby" panda bear

                   The gorilla was right up to the glass, 

        Addie looked at his toes and say he needs a band-aid.

         The momma and little tiny baby Koala

Monsters Inc.

Addie has a new movie obsession with Monsters Inc. We got it on Netflix yesterday and that's all she wants to watch. I am going to go to a used movie and book store tonight to get a VHS ( they are much more durable). We just finished round 3 of it today. She is starting to get more into movies, and understand what is going on. There is a part in the movie where Sully and Mike lose Boo, she looked at me at seriously looked like she was going to start crying and she said " They lose baby". Also when they do the "out takes" at the end there is one where Sully is running and slips on the floor, Addie did a little laugh and said "This crack my up"...as in this cracks me up. It's not the first time she has said it but still it made ma laugh. I love the movie but a mom can only watch one movie so many times before you want to go nuts!

GRR!!

I have always had issues with insomnia. It is now 1:15 a.m. and I have tried to go to sleep, and it just isn't happening. No matter how tired I am I just can't fall asleep. I have tried every over the counter sleep aids, teas, pillow sprays, breathing, praying, and a lot of RX drugs. NOTHING WORKS!!! It doesn't help that I have a million things on my mind. I just wish that I could be like most people out there and fall asleep after laying in bed for 10 min. This makes me CRAZY!!!

I got this in a email from my dad. He is a wonderful example to me and the greatest Dad any girl could ever hope for. I love you!
I think there has been many times for me that I have forgotten that no matter what there is always a little set of eyes watching every move I make. I hope I can be a good example to my daughter.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a
prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of
your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would ha ve to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say, 'Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.'

Yay for date nights...

Last night Brian and I went on a much needed date night. We had been trying to get our for a while but our favorite babysitter has been busy...(No worries we still love you). My great friend Nancy offered to keep Addie for us so we could get out. We went and had a a great dinner at On The Border, then went to go bowling. We hadn't been in a LONG time but that was something that we did a lot dating, we had a GREAT time.

The lovely couple self portrait




Brian...being Brian

A few funny things..

I love this stage with Addie...I love watching the wheels in her head turn while trying to put words together to make a sentence. She cracks me up...
Yesterday we were leaving to go run some errands and there is a dog at the corner condo that has a dog. It loves to hid until right when you are walking by, then it jumps up on a table and scares the crap out of you...as we were walking by the dog started barking at us and Addie yelled out "NO, stupid dog!" I couldn't help but laugh cause I have wanted to say a lot more then that to that dog and the owner.
This morning we were looking at the little puppy cam thing online that she LOVES. All the puppies where out of the little bed area so we couldn't see them. I showed her that they weren't in there and he said..." Oh, darn it."
She says things all the time that make me laugh out loud. I just need to remember to write things down...I'm not so great with that.

Addie's newest obsession

A guy at work showed me this...how he found it I have no idea.  Anyway, I thought Addie would like it and she totally digs watching these little guys.

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV

Another day...

I had the car today so I thought I would try and get out with Addie. We decided to go to the park. Addie took her bike and rode around, played on the playground and chased the ducks around( one of her favorite things to do at this park).






After the park I headed over to Target where I needed to get a few things. Me being the mother of the year that I am I had never thought to get Addie popcorn while we were there until I saw a old man walk out with some. Thinking to myself this could make the shopping a little more enjoyable for me, I therefore got the popcorn. The picture speaks for itself..



On the way home from picking up Brian from work I saw how amazing the sunset was. It made me sad cause I miss being able to see ALL of the sunset. I would have to drive about 45 min out of town to be able to see it...but here is part of it...I stuck my camera out the window and pointed it towards the sunset when I was stopped at the off ramp light. I thought it was beautiful!

Pure Goodness!!

One thing I love about the holiday season is the goodies...this is one of my very favorite things....YUM-O!!! If you haven't tried then PLEASE do yourself a favor and pick up a box and share it.

A great weekend...

We were able to escape for a few days this weekend and go up to Pinetop. It's about an hour and a half past Payson. One of Brian's cousins needed some help moving some stuff out of a cabin about 3 hours away. We had a great time just sitting around playing card games and talking. It was a much needed get away. Thank you so much Mike and Katie for you friendship and just being amazing people, we are so blessed to have you in our lives. On our way home we got caught in a snow storm and we had stop and cover the washer and dryer with a tarp. I decided to get Addie out for a second. She LOVED the snow and thought it was so fun! I took a few pics and here they are....

Addie and I


Mike, Katie, and Brian

An Idle mind is the Devil's Workshop...

And things come around full circle yet again. It much more fun being on the child's side of the table rather than the parent's in this case. This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old unattended for a few minutes and they don't make a peep.  (That's 4 different decks of cards)

Not quite Mother of the year...

I know I haven't been the greatest about posting pics lately. I have not been carrying around my camera but I will change that now. The weather has been awesome the last few days, Addie and I have been getting out and going to different parks and playing outside a bunch. It's been good for the both of us. Here is a picture from today of her on our patio playing on her slide.

I can't believe that she will be 3 next month. Where in the heck has all the time gone, I feel like yesterday she just started walking. It's nuts. She is starting to talk in full sentences for the most part....Here is a few funny things she has said lately.

* Last night Brian was teasing her and she was saying she wanted to color and he knew what she wanted but said oh you want to cuddle? She grabbed the magna doodle that she wanted to color on and said " Dad, this what me talking about!"
*On Halloween I had her go potty before I put her costume on her and as she was trying to go she said " Me so excited! Happy Halloween!"
*She's been into the just kidding thing lately...A while ago I told her she needed to sit down and eat or she would need to go to time out. She started to try and stand up on her chair and I looked at her and she let out a big fake laugh and said " Mom, me just kidding."

I am totally brain dead right now so I will try and be better about posting pics and little updates..
*

Voting!

I got up at 5:30 a.m. to go use my right I have to go vote. After waiting for a short hour and I half I voted. Brian went to go vote right after I got home. I don't care who it is that you support but PLEASE PLEASE GO VOTE!!! Let your voice be heard...

Halloween!!

We had a great time on Halloween. We took Addie tricker teating to a few houses around our neighborhood. She knew just want to do, she'd walk up to the door ring the bell and wait for them to open the door. Right when that door would open she would say
" Happy Halloween, trick treat, thanks much!" She was pretty funny, we got a good laugh or two out of it. She was a fairy witch. She told everyone that she wanted to be a car. Yes! A car....where she got this idea I have no clue. Needless to say no one sells car costumes, so went we with the fairy witch. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween.